The European Union is removing most cranberries from a list of American goods that will be targeted for tariffs, providing a major relief for a key industry in Wisconsin and Massachusetts.

The decision, confirmed Friday by Representative Bill Keating of Bourne, Mass., comes after a series of lobbying efforts to protect the Bay State's cranberry industry from the growing trade wars instigated by President Trump, who campaigned in
2016 on protectionist trade policies.

Along with Kentucky bourbon and Florida orange juice, cranberry has been one of several food industries targeted in growing trade disputes between European countries and the U.S.

"The Trump Administration's tariffs were ill-conceived economic policy and also an abuse by the president of his national security powers," said Keating, who several years ago helped start the Congressional Cranberry Caucus.

Wisconsin is the top cranberry producer in the U.S., while Massachusetts is the second-largest, and cranberries are the state's top agricultural food crop, valued at nearly $70 million.